1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of audio data monitoring, such as the monitoring of telephone calls and, more specifically, to leveraging voice recognition technology to provide new and improved features and functionality for use in audio data analysis and data mining. Such new and improved features and functionality include speech and data SQL integration for fast and efficient searches of audio data for spoken words, phrases, or sequences of words, as well as other features and functions described herein.
2. Description of Related Art
Prior art telephone call monitoring typically consisted of recording telephone calls and the manual monitoring of only a select few (e.g., 5%) of the recorded calls by a call center employee or supervisor. Searching for particular words or phrases must be performed manually by listening to segments of audio recordings. Such manual call monitoring is tedious, time consuming, laborious, and costly.
Call monitoring is often included as part of modem call or contact center supported by modem Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) systems. CTI is an indispensable component of doing business over the telephone, CTI middleware providing a software bridge between computers and telephone systems in contact centers. CTI functions to bringing together computer systems and telephone systems so that their functions can be coordinated. Functionality made possible by core CTI technology include: Interactive Voice Response (IVR) integration, which transfers caller-entered IVR information to Customer Support Representative (CSR) desktop PCs, Screen Pop and coordinated call-data transfer between CSRs. By integrating computers and telephone systems, contact centers can realize significant advances in both CSR productivity and the quality of customer service.
CTI applies computer-based intelligence to telecommunications devices, blending the functionality of computers and computer networks with the features and capabilities of sophisticated telephone systems over an intelligent data link to gain increases in CSR productivity, customer satisfaction and enterprise cost savings. CTI combines the functionality of programmable computing devices with the telephony network through the exchange of signaling and messaging data between the switching systems and a computer. CTI's principal undertaking is to integrate various call center systems and platforms, including PBXs, LANs, IVR/VRU systems, predictive dialers, the desktop PC and Internet-based applications.
Three functions—IVR integration, screen pop and coordinated call-data-transfer lie at the core of most CTI implementations. A common CTI function is the “screen pop” or “smart call handling”. The screen pop uses telephony-supplied data typically ANI (automatic number identification), DNIS (dialed number identification service) and/or IVR-entered data to automatically populate a CSR's desktop application screen with information related to the transaction, such as a customer's profile or account information, scripts or product information. When the CSR answers the phone, he or she knows who is calling and is better positioned to provide effective customer service. Closely related to the screen pop application is an application often referred to as “coordinated call-data transfer.” A typical scenario for this application might proceed as follows. A Tier 1 CSR receives a customer call. The Tier 1 CSR realizes that the customer will have to be transferred to a Tier 2 CSR to satisfy the customer inquiry. With a few clicks of the mouse, coordinated call-data transfer functionality allows the transferring CSR to send both the call and the updated screen data to the receiving CSR. With all of the information relating to the first transaction, the receiving CSR has more data and is able to more efficiently and effectively conduct the next customer interaction.
IVR integration typically rounds out most basic CTI implementations. With IVR integration, information a customer enters into an IVR system is automatically displayed on a CSR's desktop PC when the customer elects to speak directly to a CSR. At the same time, information collected by the IVR system can be used to trigger a screen pop. With this functionality, customers are relieved from having to repeat basic information when transferring to a live CSR. The customer is able to carry on with the live CSR where he or she left off with the IVR system.
CTI functionality has four principal benefits including (i) increased CSR productivity; (ii) more competent customer service; (iii) faster access to customer information; and (iv) long distance cost savings. With CTI, CSR productivity increases significantly. CSRs are relieved from having to ask customers for routine information or for information the customer has already provided, either to another CSR or to another call center device. Time spent keying in database access information and waiting for resulting information is eliminated. With these process improvements, the overall call processing time is reduced, allowing CSRs to process more calls more efficiently in the course of a typical day. With screen pop functionality alone, the typical call center should be able to realize a 10 to 15 second reduction in average call processing times. The screen pop functionality offers a significant savings to a contact center when implementing “core” CTI functionality. When there are frequent transfers of customer's calls, either from an IVR system or between CSRs, the reduction in average call processing times can be even greater.
Another benefit of CTI is the ability to deliver more competent customer service. With core CTI functionality, customers are recognized by name as soon as they reach a live CSR. In addition, customers are relieved from having to repeat routine information every time they are transferred to a different call center location. To the customer, CTI is transparent, as it provides the customer with a seamless interaction, and giving the customer a favorable impression of the organization as a competent, customer-focused operation.
CTI further supports upselling and cross-selling existing customers. Having fast access to customer information is a critical requirement to being able to upsell and cross-sell effectively. By allowing CSRs to access customer information as they make voice contact with the customer, CSRs are better able to plan up-sale and cross-sale proposals.
An additional benefit of CTI is reduced long distance charges per call. CTI allows the call center to process calls faster, the technology can result in considerable reductions of long distance charges.
With reference to FIG. 1, a typical call or Contact Center 100 may include a switch 102 such as an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) and/or Private Branch Exchange (PBX) connected to a communications network, such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) for receiving calls from and making calls to customer telephones 101.
Switch 102 is connected to and cooperates with Interactive Voice Response system 103 for automatically handling calls (e.g., playing messages to and obtaining information from callers, etc.) and with CTI Server 104 for routing calls to CSRs. CTI Server 104 is also connected to Switch 102 for receiving call information such as DNIS and ANI, and to CSR Workstation 105 for providing information to a CSR. CSR Workstation 105 may connect to Database 106 directly and/or receive information form Database 106 through CTI Server 104 when an appropriate connection (not shown) is available. A CSR has access both to CSR Workstation 105 and to CSR Telephone 107 for conversing with customers and retrieving data from and inputting data into Database 106 and performing other call handling actions using CTI Server 104, IVR 103 and Switch 102.
Referring to FIG. 1, a typical call processing session may proceed as follows.
1.) A customer call from telephone 101 comes into ACD/PBX switch 102.
2.) The call gets routed to IVR 103.
2a). Switch 102 sends ANI, DNIS to CTI Server 104.
3.) IVR 103 requests call data from CTI Server 104.
3a.) The call data is sent to IVR 103 from CTI Server 104.
4.) IVR 103 and Caller exchange information.
5.) IVR 103 sends call data to the CTI Server 104.
5a.) IVR 103 transfers the call back to Switch 102.
6.) CSR Workstation 105 requests data and the CTI Server 104 sends it.
7.) Data sent to CSR Workstation 105 triggers a call to Customer Database 106.
8.) The data from the caller data triggers a call to the Customer Database 106 to populate the CSR Screen 105 with the customer data as the voice arrives.
One of the tasks in running a call or Contact Center is to ensure that the system is properly operating and that each CSR is trained and efficiently handles interactions with customers. Such quality assurance tasks are often supported by call monitoring systems and methods. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,256 entitled Method And System For Automatically Monitoring The Performance Quality Of Call Center Service Representatives issued Jul. 9, 1996 to Maloney et al. describing a method and system for monitoring the performance of a CSR in servicing calls in a call center by determining an interval within which to monitor the service representative's performance in responding to calls, as well as by determining a number of calls or length of time for monitoring the representative within the interval. U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,049 entitled Non-Random Call Center Supervisory Method and Apparatus issued Jul. 17, 2001 to Kuhn describing a computer-implemented method and apparatus for monitoring of CSR calls in a nonrandom fashion in order to provide a supervisor with flexible control over monitoring schedules. U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,064 entitled Method and Apparatus for Enabling Full Interactive Monitoring of Calls To and From a Call-In Center issued Jun. 18, 2002 to Fedorov et al., describing a CSR station at a telephone call center with a telephone speaker line connected to a microphone input at the sound card. These CSR stations are interconnected on a LAN such that a supervisor at one station may monitor telephone conversations at another station. U.S. Pat. No. 6,542,602 entitled Telephone Call Monitoring System issued Apr. 1, 2003 to Elazar describing a method of monitoring CSR telephonic interactions with customers including a) receiving a CTI datum associated with a telephone call between a CSR and a party, b) determining whether the telephone call is to be recorded by determining whether the CTI datum meets at least one predefined monitoring condition, and, if so, c) recording at least a portion of the telephone call.
While these prior art systems provide some degree of CSR monitoring and system quality assurance, improved methods and systems are needed to enhance monitoring functions, collect information, and support review and analysis of quality assurance and monitoring data.